Help! Something’s gone wrong

[andyg55]

Hi all

48 hours ago I started a primary fermentation of hef with a souring mix added. 24 hours in andit was bubbling nicely. Today I went to look and something has gone wrong (see the photos).

This was a 5.5-gallon fermentation in an 8-gallon bucket so it shouldn’t have overflowed, but something has clearly happened! The sanitizer in the air lock is also milky.

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Clint]

Hef...is that a type of wheat beer? If so...that's what they do!

 

[andyg55]

It's a hefeweizen.

Beer has leaked out, the air lock has stopped bubbling, and it's now milky.

 

[dwhite60]

True hefe yeast fermented warm. Not surprising. I add wheat to beer to help head retention. What you have there is a LOT of wheat and it retained the head.

Hef yeasts are not very floculant. Cloudiness is actually expected in some hef beers. If you cold crash it the yeast may settle out.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[andyg55]

Anything I can do? Or just dump it?

 

[dwhite60]

Why would you dump it?

Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with it. It looks normal for the stage it's at.

You're just in unfamiliar territory. Just let it go. It will be fine

"Worrying is like paying money on a debt you may never owe". - Roy Rogers

All the Best,
D. White

 

[andyg55]

Thanks, but considering how much the air lock was bubbling yesterday, and now there is nothing, should I not presume that there is a major issue and this is a fail?

Also, if I do carry on, should I change the sanitizer in the air lock to fresh?

 

[fury_tea]

Anything I can do? Or just dump it?

Don't dump it! That's just an active fermentation that got a bit too active. It's possible it's finished already. I've had wheat beers finish 48hrs before now. Take a gravity reading if you like or just leave it for a week or two to clear up then take a reading. Everything is going to be ok!

 

[dwhite60]

No issue. You just had a rapid fermentation. Hef yeasts tend to be monsters and if the get very warm they work even faster.

Just let it ride.

How much brewing have you done?

All the Best,
D. White

 

[andyg55]

I'm a new brewer, this is my second batch! First was a standard IPA from a brewing kit that worked perfectly, so I thought I'd be adventurous and give a sour a go. I took the advice from Michael Tonsmeire's book that if you're having a go for the first time, just make your beer as normal and pitch a sour blend with the standard yeast. I did that and this is what happened. A couple of things I know I did wrong:

1. I pitched the yeast onto cold wort. It was way too cold, about 55 F (should have been about 70 F). I only learned afterward that this is a bad thing.

2. I couldn't get the airlock right, so it kept leaking sanitizer into the batch. I had to figure out how to fix it in place properly which exposed my wort to the air quite a few times.

I'll leave it for 2 weeks and rack onto oak cubes for 6-12 months instead of dumping it.

If anyone has any other advice for me I'd appreciate it.

Cheers.

 

[dwhite60]

Do clean out your airlock and refill it.

Pitching into cold wort means the yeast start slower. It most likely did nothing bad to your beer. Unless it was straight bleach a little sanitizer didn't hurt anything either.

In thirty years I have dumped one batch. It got infected with something.

I've done too hot, too cold, aerated, didn't rinse the bleach out well enough, scorched the extract in the pot, wrong ingredients. Many other things I don't remember but most everything has been at least drinkable.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[andyg55]

Ok, well I've cleaned everything off, refreshed the airlock with fresh sanitizer, and the fermenter is back in place (see new pic).

I'll keep going with this one. I must say, when I took the lid off it smelt fantastic! :)

Thanks for your help everyone! As a new brewer, it's pretty easy to just assume that all hope is lost when something like this happens.

 

[dwhite60]

Thanks for your help everyone! As a new brewer, it's pretty easy to just assume that all hope is lost when something like this happens.

EXACTLY! A lot of us have been doing this a long time. Hopefully I can help someone avoid a lot of the pain I went through. Get ten more brews behind you and you'll look back on this and laugh.

I want to hear how this turns out. Keep us posted!

Happy brewing.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[terrym]

The only time you dump beer, the fruit of your labours and a product of your wallet, is when you open a few at the end and there is obviously something wrong with it. Some people on here have even salvaged a brew which has become contaminated with a pellicle infection in the FV.

 

[dwhite60]

Like terrym said. After it's been in the bottle or keg with an appropriate amount of time to "age in", like three weeks, you then try one and assess.

You'll be surprised what a month aging can do for a beer especially stouts and porters.

Keep brewing. You'll get there.

All the Best,
D. White